Today, during the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Disney Branded Television (DBT) announced a slate of new animated projects and shared the first glimpses of its industry-leading children’s and preschool-focused programming. The announcements were made by Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, along with DBT animation leaders Meredith Roberts, executive vice president, Disney Television Animation; Alyssa Sapire, senior vice president, Disney Jr. Development, Series and Strategy; and Orion Ross, vice president, International Animation.
In addition, Disney Television Animation commemorated its illustrious 40th anniversary at the festival with a special panel highlighting the studio’s dominance in children’s animation over four decades, with beloved titles such as Phineas and Ferb, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Monsters at Work, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, Sofia the First and more, as well as current and future hits ranging from «Kiff to Big City Greens, ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series, Hamster and Gretel and StuGo.
The Disney Jr., Disney Television Animation and International Animation teams will present several additional panels throughout the week, including one highlighting the power of storytelling through music and featuring Disney Jr.’s Ariel,»Kindergarten: The Musical, ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series, Kiff» and Big City Greens, as well as a panel for the upcoming global series The Doomies.
‘Disney Branded Television is proud of our four-decade legacy of creating magical, visually stunning animation adored by young audiences around the world’, said Davis. ‘It’s a momentous year at Annecy as we celebrate our studio’s milestone anniversary and showcase some of our most exciting new projects and creative talent that are leading us into a new era of storytelling’.
Among the new Disney Jr. and Disney Television Animation titles and first looks announced at Annecy are the following:
- Prep & Landing: the Snowball protocol (22 minutes special). Produced by: Disney Television Animation. Executive producers: Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton. Story Editor/Co-Producer: Colleen Evanson. Producer: Melissa Kurtz. Director: Shane Zalvin. Writer: Hilary Helding. In this new installment of the Emmy®-winning Christmas specials, the high-tech elf team of the elite unit known as Prep and Landing is back! When their Christmas missions go wrong, Wayne thinks he’s in BIG trouble with Santa, which opens up a vault of joyous mishaps from the past. This time it’s going to be tough to get out of the snow bank in «Prep and Landing: The Snowball Protocol.» The special will debut next year.
- Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Moon Girl’s Lab (Shorts). Produced by: Disney Television Animation. Executive Producers: Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland and Steve Loter. Co-Executive Producers: Rodney Clouden and Pilar Flynn. It’s a new STEM-focused short-form musical series in which Moon Girl drops knowledge AND bars while using the power of science to take down some serious bad guys. Each of the eight shorts will feature a new song by GRAMMY® winner Raphael Saadiq, who serves as the series’ executive music producer, and a science theme, including adaptations, states of matter, plants, force and motion, light, echolocation, and coding. The shorts will premiere Friday, June 28 on Disney Channel and Disney Channel YouTube. All eight shorts will be available on Disney+ the same day.
- Superkitties: Su-Purr adventures (Shorts). Produced by: Sony Pictures Television – Kids in association with Disney Jr. Creator: Paula Rosenthal. Executive producers: Sarah Mullervy, Kirk Van Wormer and Audu Paden. Supervising producer: Bryan Korn. This is a new short-form series inspired by the new number one preschool series for 2023, «SuperKitties.» It features Bitsy, Ginny, Sparks and Buddy as they showcase their superhero skills and the kindness of the kitties they use to work together as a team to make their town of Kittydale a great place to live. The shorts will premiere Wednesday, August 7 on Disney Jr. and Disney Channel and the following day, Thursday, August 8, on Disney+ and Disney Jr. YouTube.
Series renewal announcement:
- Big City Greens (fifth season). Produced by: Disney Television Animation. Creators/Executive Producers: Chris and Shane Houghton. Executive Producer: Anna O’Brian. Co-Executive Producer: Stephen Sandoval. Producer: Michael Coughlin. Greenlit today for its fifth season, «Big City Greens» was the second most-watched animated children’s series of 2023, with more than 2 billion hours watched online and streaming since its 2018 debut. The series follows the unconventional adventures of 10-year-old Cricket Green (voiced by Chris Houghton), a mischievous and optimistic country boy who moved to the big city with his wildly out-of-place family. The show is heavily influenced by the brothers’ childhood in St. Johns, Michigan, a small rural town north of Lansing, also known as the coin capital of the world. Many of the characters are inspired by real-life family members and childhood residents. This summer will also see the release of «Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation,» which will be screened at Annecy as part of Le Pâquier’s prestigious series of lawn screenings. In addition, Anna O’Brian, the film’s director, joined the series for the fifth season as executive producer.
Premiere date announcement:
- Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures (season two). Produced by: Lucasfilm in association with Wild Canary for Disney+ and Disney Jr. Showrunner/Executive Producer: Michael Olson. Executive producers: James Waugh, Jacqui Lopez and Josh Rimes. Supervising director/co-producer: Elliot M. Bour. Consulting producer: Lamont Magee. The second season of «Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures» will premiere Wednesday, Aug. 14 on Disney+ and Disney Jr. In the new season, Kai Brightstar, Lys Solay and Nubs are ready for more adventures! Clad in their new mission gear, the young heroes will embark on even bigger missions across the galaxy as they continue their Jedi training.
First looks released at Annecy:
- Disney Jr.’s Ariel. Produced by: Wild Canary in association with Disney Jr. Executive Producer: Lynne Southerland. An exclusive first-look clip from the highly anticipated new series «Disney Jr.’s Ariel» was released today . Inspired by the beloved story of «The Little Mermaid,» the series premieres Thursday, June 27 on Disney Jr. in the U.S. with an initial batch of eight episodes available on Disney+ the following day, Friday, June 28 . The series follows 8-year-old mermaid princess Ariel as she and her friends embark on fun-filled, action-packed underwater adventures throughout her fairytale kingdom of Atlantica, inspired by the Caribbean, and beyond.
- Kindergarten: The musical. Produced by: Oddbot Entertainment in association with Disney Jr. Creators: Michelle Lewis and Charlton Pettus. Executive producers: Tom Warburton, Michelle Lewis, Kay Hanley, Charlton Pettus and Dan Petty. Co-executive producer/story editor: Laurie Israel. The theme song , performed by GRAMMY Award-winning and Tony Award®-nominated actress and singer Eva Noblezada («The Great Gatsby»), and key art from the upcoming new Disney Jr. series, «Kindergarten: The Musical,» were also released today. The series follows 5-year-old Berti, who, along with her new friends, is going through all the exciting and emotional experiences that come with starting school for the first time. The series, which takes place in a kindergarten classroom at Porter Elementary School, features fantastic Broadway-style songs and dance numbers that help children express their big feelings and provide a glimpse into their incredible imaginations. The series will debut on Disney Jr. and Disney+ later this year.
- StuGo. Produced by: Titmouse in association with Disney Channel. Creator/Executive Producer: Ryan Gillis. Executive Producer: Sunil Hall. Story Editor: Craig Lewis. The theme song for «StuGo» was also released today. The series follows six overly ambitious high school students tricked by a mad scientist into attending a bogus academic summer camp. Now they’re trapped for three months on a wild tropical island with mind-reading manatees, giant fighting mushrooms and cutting-edge mutants – less academics than they expected, but a lot more adventure. The series will premiere this fall on Disney Channel and Disney+.
- The Doomies. Produced by: Xilam in association with Disney+. Co-Creator/Director: Andrés Fernandez. Co-Creator/Principal Writer: Henry Gifford. Co-creator/art director: Rémi Zaarour. An exclusive first look at Disney’s new spooky comedy animated series, «The Doomies,» was released today. The chilling series follows best friends Bobby and Romy, who mistakenly open a door to the underworld and turn their quiet seaside town into an access point for terrifying, fatal creatures. As they try to hide their mess, they become embroiled in an epic monster mystery, which will see them battle demons both literal and internal.
